Forever Midnight
by ZombiesAteMyBrain13
Summary: It was Halloween when the two first laid eyes on each other. He drew her in with his mysterious ways and she wanted to know more about him, even if it killed her. She was willing to go through anything to find out all about him... and maybe even uncover something about his hidden past that he didn't want anyone to know. Jerza AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Happy Halloween everyone! So this is something I've had waiting for you all for such a long time so I really hope you like it. This is just an introduction chapter so you could get the basic idea of the story... maybe. I'm not sure. Anyway, this will sort of be like Fatal Darkness, I'll upload it at random when I complete the chapters. So I hope everyone enjoys it and Happy Halloween :D**

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It was just the typical Halloween costume party with everyone happy to be inside near the fireplace, since the air had quickly turned cold earlier in the day. Everyone was enjoying the idle chit chat amongst friends and participating in the numerous party game; carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples, typical halloween party games. A tall scarlet haired woman stood amongst her group of friends with a glass of wine in her hand. She laughed, and smiled and she occasionally shared her own thoughts and opinions on the many different subjects she and her friends spoke about.

"Erza," came a deep voice from behind her.

The scarlet haired woman turned to see none other than her boyfriend. She smiled at him but his expression bore the same somber look.

"Can we talk for a moment?" He asked her, nudging his head towards the other room where the two could have a bit of privacy.

"Oh, sure Simon." She still held her smile on her face. The woman looked at her friends, "pardon me for a moment. I'll be right back."

Her friends nodded. She took a sip of her wine and followed Simon into a small office. He shut the door behind the two. The man let out a sigh and looked down at his feet, "Erza." His tone was so sad, one that Erza didn't like the sound of.

"Is everything alright?" She asked him worriedly. She grabbed one of his hands in her own and tried to look at his face. He refused, turning his head further away from her every time her eyes drew closer and closer to his own.

"No. It isn't." He spoke bluntly, still refusing to look at her.

"What's going on Simon?" She released his hand from her grip and started at him with worry in her eyes.

He didn't answer her. He simply continued to stare in the opposite direction. A small sigh escaped his lips.

"Simon...?" Erza held back tears that began to form in her eyes. "Simon what's going on?"

"This..." He finally glanced at her. "You and I, Erza. We aren't working out."

"Simon..."

"I'm so sorry Erza but we never seem to see each other anymore and that's killing me." He could see the tears rolling down her cheeks, "I don't want you to be upset Erza. Please. Please don't cry."

"I have to go." The redhead tried to make it seem like she wasn't crying but it was obvious that she was. She kept her face down towards the ground and walked right past him, exiting the office.

"Erza! Erza please listen to me!" He called after her. It was obvious that she didn't want to listen to anything else that he had to say.

Her friends looked at her with worry in each of their eyes. When the redhead continued to walk right past them without stopping, that's when they knew something was wrong, truly wrong.

"Hey Erza are you okay?" Gray asked as he kept a good pace following behind her.

"I'm fine Gray, I just want to go home. Please leave me be." That's all she said to him. She grabbed her coat and continued out the door without saying a single word to anyone, not even a goodbye. Gray stopped walking when she shut the door in his face.

"What happened?" Lucy questioned as she joined the raven haired boy by the door, handing him a glass of punch.

"I really have no idea." Gray responded as he looked over his shoulder towards Simon. The taller man himself also seemed rather upset. "I'll go find out." Gray walked right past the blonde and over towards the man who would give him the answer to his question. "What'd you say to Erza that made her so upset?"

Simon didn't looked Gray in the eyes. He kept his eyes fixed on his boots, "well I told her that we weren't working out as a couple so I-"

Gray cut him off, "that explains it." And with that, he walked back towards the blonde and her pink haired boyfriend. He knew that Erza was going to be a complete wreck for the next few days and he also knew that tonight he would leave her alone because that's what she needed. She needed to be alone with her own thoughts. Tomorrow he would visit her, give her a shoulder to cry on and someone to talk to, but as for tonight, he knew that she would want to be left alone.

* * *

With tears rolling down her cheeks the redhead drove through the rain. All she wanted to do was to get back to her own apartment to be left alone. Simon's words had hurt her deeply and she knew that the man understood that he had hurt her emotionally. She knew that this was one of the risks one took when dating a friend, or anyone for that matter. She wasn't sure how long it would take for her heart to heal, and she wasn't sure if she could remains Simon's friend in fear of more heartbreak by just looking at him whenever he would be in her presence. For some reason though, this breakup hurt more than she was physically expecting it to. She felt crushed and destroyed inside when she knew that she shouldn't. Was it because she had gotten so attached to being with him? It could be any of the hundreds of possibilities that she had racing around in her mind. Although she just wanted to be left alone tonight, she knew that once Gray, Natsu, and Lucy found out about this situation they would be standing at her door tomorrow to comfort her and help her move on with her life. That's what they did: they were always there when someone in their group needed someone. What broke her from her thoughts was the loud banging coming from under the hood of her car. The machine began to slow down until it stalled. The redhead sighed. "Just perfect." She took her keys from the ignition and locked her doors as she exited the vehicle. Looking around, there wasn't any other car in site. She sighed. The rain feel harder and harder from the sky and the winds grew colder. A crack of lightning lit up the sky around her, revealing to the redhead an old manor that sat up on a hill. As she looked down at her phone she sighed and angrily threw it back into her purse before seeing the manor as her final option to find some help. "Maybe they have a phone I can use." She held up the hood on her jacket and made her way towards the old iron gate. With a gentle push, the gate opened and the redhead made her way up towards the old house, unaware of the situation she was about to put herself into.

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**So you've learned two things thus far:**

1) Erza and Simon broke up.  
2) Erza's going up to the creepy manor on the hill.

What do you guys think is going to happen with the upcoming chapters? Leave your thoughts in the reviews and I'll respond to anything you may say at the beginning of the next chapter. Later everyone (:


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there everyone, I'm back with the second chapter of this story. I'm sorry it's been so long but I've been super busy and haven't had any time to actually type this up until recently. So yeah, this is the next chapter of this lovely story where you'll get to find out everything that you've been wondering about.**

**imahappyperson : Well, today you get to find out who actually is the owner of the manor Erza wandered up to. I'm pretty sure that you'll be very happy with who it is.**

**Nicole : I don't plan on quitting on this, I just update things incredibly slowly when I'm not set on an upload schedule. And since you love this so much, I'm sure you're thrilled that the second chapter just got uploaded today. I hope you enjoy it!**

**But no seriously, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. **

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The cold wind nipped at the woman as she walked through the cold and damp weather towards the victorian estate seated atop a hill overlooking the town down below. She hoped that the home's owner would be able to help her. A loud crack of thunder made the earth beneath her feet tremble. The rain fell down harder and the young woman shook as she hugged herself to try and keep herself warm. It worked to no anvil for she continued to tremble and shake. As she reached the manor's door, it opened before she even had the chance to knock. The woman was greeted by a young pink haired girl who had a smile on her face.

"Come in Miss. You shouldn't be outside in the weather." The pink haired girl grabbed hold of Erza's arm and pulled her inside and shut the door behind her.

"How… how did you know I was out there?" Erza asked as she removed her hood.

"I saw you approaching." The girl smiled, "may I take your coat?"

"Oh… yes."

The redhead stripped herself of her coat and handed it over to the girl who had so kindly invited her inside.

"What brings you up here other than the weather anyway Miss? It's unusual for the manor to receive any visitors."

"My car broke down right outside the gate so I came up here hoping to find some help and a working phone to call a mechanic." Erza explained.

"Well it's far too late to call a mechanic, everything's locked up for the night. You're more than welcome to stay here until the morning though."

The girl smiled as she pulled the redhead over to the large black leather sofa by her wrist, "sit, sit. Make yourself comfy." The pinkette placed a blanket around the woman's shoulders. "I'll fetch you something warm to drink. Please, wait here."

The scarlet haired woman nodded as she adjusted the blanket. Her amber eyes examined the large living chamber; it looked so old, filled with numerous antiques and large oil paintings, ornate furniture and of course a large stone fireplace.

"Surely that girl doesn't live here all by herself." Erza spoke to herself. She let out a sigh.

"Is everything alright miss?" The pink haired girl's voice filled the room, startling the redhead. She hadn't even know she had left the room.

"Oh, yes. Perfectly fine."

"Oh good. I've made you some tea miss, it's nice and hot. I hope you like it."

"Thank you." Erza smiled as she took the cup and held it tightly in her hands, warming her palms.

"Meredy," a male voice spoke out, startling both the females.

"Yes sir, what is it?" The girl, Meredy, looked over her shoulder, her eyes looking directly at the staircase.

"You said you were getting me a drink about ten minutes ago. Why do I still not have it in my presence?" The man's voice was cold and harsh.

"I do apologize about that sir but this young woman came knocking on the door so I invited her in. I didn't want her to stay outside in this cold and rainy weather." Meredy explained with kind words.

Erza slowly allowed her eyes to glance over towards the man on the stairs. She watched as he made his way down, "please forgive me sir. I do apologize for intruding but I was having a bit of car trouble so I wanted to see if you would be so kind as to allow me to use your phone to call a mechanic." Erza explained why she was inside of his manor to begin with.

"I am the master of this household," he explained to her using the same cold tone that he had been using since earlier. She could feel him looking her up and down with his sinister and empty green eyes. "And what exactly do you call yourself?"

It was obvious to her that the man didn't want her there, but instead of kicking her out in the rain he was simply being polite, making her feel welcome. "Erza Scarlet." She allowed herself to finally look at the man: he was tall with olive eyes and shaggy cobalt hair. He also had a red tattoo above and below his right eye.

"Well then Ms. Scarlet please make yourself comfortable. Tomorrow morning you can call a mechanic. Until your problem is solved you are more than welcome to stay here. Once it is fixed then I advise that you travel back to wherever it is you come from." He made his way over towards the pink haired girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, "show her where she will be staying for the time she is here."

The young girl nodded as she kept her green eyes fixed on the blue haired man as he made his way back up the steps. "Oh and Ms. Scarlet, while you are staying here I must advise you that the East Wing of the house is off limits. Other than that, you are free to explore the rest of my manor."

Erza watched as the man disappeared into the shadows at the top of the steps. Meredy shot a small smile in her direction, "the East Wing is the Master's quarters and he enjoys his privacy." The young girl explained, "if you would please follow me this way, I'll show you to where you'll be staying for the duration of your visit with us Ms. Scarlet."

"You can call me Erza," the redhead explained, "being called Ms. Scarlet makes me feel so old." She let out a laugh.

Meredy gave a small chuckles as she smiled, "as you wish." The girl bowed. She began making her way over to the steps. With the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders, Erza stood up from the couch and began to follow after the young housekeeper.

"You'll have to excuse Master Jellal's behavior."

"Pardon?" Erza raised a thin brow as she took a sip from the cup in her hands.

"The Master enjoys his privacy so you'll have to excuse his behavior. Plus it isn't very often that we receive visitors at the manor."

"Oh."

"Once you get to know him, Master Jellal is actually a very sweet man with a kind heart."

All Erza did was nod as she studied all the pictures that filled the long hallway that she and Meredy were walking down.

"The Master never use to be like this; cold and emotionless I mean. According to my mother, whom use to work for the Master long before she passed on, he began acting this way after his parents died. I personally think he's just lonely is all."

"Lonely?" Erza questioned.

"Mmhmm," Meredy hummed, "I noticed that he's started to keep more and more to himself especially after my mother passed on. The two of them were very close, much like he and his mother were. Unfortunately my mother got very sick just a few years ago you see. Master Jellal was kind enough to take me under his wing."

Erza simply nodded again, her eyes were still fixated on the portraits.

"This is where you'll be staying Ms. Scar… er, Erza." Meredy spoke as she opened the oak door, "I'll come and wake you tomorrow morning for breakfast. Please enjoy the room and sleep well." Meredy smiled as she began making her way back down the large hallway.

"You too." Erza smiled as well and waved to the girl's back. She sighed softly and entered the room, shutting the door behind her. The room was dark and the only form of light was coming from a candle on the nightstand over on the other side of the room. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness that surrounded her and she slowly made her way over to where the light of the candle was. She used her free hand that wasn't holding the cup of tea to feel around for any furniture. She felt nothing until she was close enough to the candle where she could make out a silhouette of a lamp. Erza closed her eyes as she turned on the light, and slowly, she opened her eyes once she felt the light hitting at her eyelids. She began taking in the brightness of the large and ornate room. Everything was larger than she had imagined it to be while in the dark; the bed was queen sized, there was a desk and a chair, a large oak dresser, two large windows that led out to a balcony overlooking a garden, and a large bookcase that was filled to the brim with book of all genres. She could hear the rain hitting the ground on the balcony and the plopping sounds that the water made as it hit the large windows. Erza let out a long breath and sat down on the bed. She placed the cup down on the table and removed the blanket that was placed on her shoulders and folded it neatly, setting it down at the foot of the bed. She pulled her long red hair down from the pony tail she had it up in and it fell freely down her back. She began unzipping her boots when a large boom of thunder echoed around her; she jumped.

"Calm down Erza, it's only a bit of thunder," she told herself as she placed her boots neatly in front of the end table that had the candle on it and blew out the small flame as another crack of thunder echoed that was followed by a flash of lightning that lit up the sky.

"Just get some sleep Erza." She told herself as she got under the covers, not even bothering to remove her clothes. She reached over and turned off the small light that she had turned on earlier. The second that things got dark, her eyes closed and she fell asleep instantly. Another crack of lightning lit up the balcony, making the form of a woman appear there, watching the redhead before she disappeared with another lightning flash.

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**If you ask me I think things are already getting pretty interesting. Who's the figure on Erza's bedroom balcony? What's up with Jellal? What the hell happened the Meredy's mother? Who is Meredy's mother? I'm sure you guys can probably answer most of those questions but even if you can't, don't you worry. Everything will all start coming together as the chapters start coming out. I promise, I'll try and get things posted on a quicker basis. Anyway, make sure you guys review, favorite, and maybe even follow the story if you like it, it would mean so much to me. I'll see everyone again when I post the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I wanted to get this chapter out before the holiday started since I'll be very busy on Thanksgiving. So before we begin I just wanted to say that the chapters for this story will now start being uploaded on Mondays since that's the day that works best for me with the current schedule I have. But I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews, they always being a smile to my face.**

**BakaSakka : You have to remember that when the figure appeared on the balcony that Erza was asleep and it was gone before she would have really even noticed. But yeah, I probably would have gotten the hell out of there too if I would have seen it, and even if Erza would have seen it, she doesn't exactly have anyway of leaving since her car broke down.**

**imahappyperson : Meredy is based off of how she looked before the time skip, whereas Jellal and Erza are suppose to be after (even though Erza doesn't change much which I doubt she would have anyway.) The East Wing stuff was based off of Beauty and the Beast but I have a good reason for including it in there. And you'll get to meet the woman again so maybe that'll answer who it is.**

**RubyDemonXoXo : I'm glad you think this is great thus far. There are more chapters to come so I hope it continues to be great. And to answer your question about Erza stumbling in there, well you'll just have to wait and see. Granted I will say that there is a chapter going over that coming up soon (it'll be chapter four). **

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The sun beamed in through the large windows, awakening Erza from her slumber. The redhead sat up in bed as she yawned, her eyes fluttered open. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned once again. A knock on the door startled her a bit, but she had a pretty good idea as to who was there.

"Ms. Erza." She was right, it was Meredy.

"Come in Meredy." Erza smiled.

The door opened and in walked the bubbly petite pinkette with a nice folded pile of clean clothes in her hands, "I've brought you some clean things to wear to breakfast and for the rest of the day. You may change here or in the bathroom down the hall. Once you're ready, breakfast will be waiting for you in the dining hall."

"Thank you." Erza took the clothes from her, who bowed before she took her leave from the bedroom.

Before Erza took her leave from the room, she grabbed her boots from by the end table. She took her leave from the bedroom to make an attempt to find where the bathroom was located in this large manor. Her bedroom door slammed shut behind her and she jumped as she looked over her shoulder, "I didn't shut that… but it was probably the wind or something."

The redhead had opened three doors before she finally found the door that led into the bathroom. She completed her usual morning routine: taking a shower, getting dressed, brushing her hair, brushing her teeth. When she was ready, she made her way down the steps, following the smell of freshly made breakfast. The scent had led her directly to the dining hall where she saw Meredy setting the table for the upcoming meal.

"Good morning." Erza greeted the young girl with a smile.

"Oh, good morning Ms. Erza," Meredy smiled at her, "the Master should be joining you here shortly. Please, sit. Make yourself comfy."

Erza nodded and sat down in the chair that was to her right. She watched as Meredy placed down her silverware, napkin and a cup filled with freshly brewed coffee.

"By the way Ms. Erza, I have called a mechanic for you. The man on the phone said that the company will send a towtruck by for your car sometime later in the day. The man also said that he would call again when your car is all ready and that they would drop it back off for you."

"Thank you Meredy."

"Don't mention it Ms. Erza." Meredy smiled before her eyes shot over towards the large archway, "good morning Master Jellal."

All the man did was wave as he slowly made his way over to the seat at the end of the table, just three away from the redhead. Erza's brown eyes followed his every move, noticing every detail there was to observe about him. She noticed that he had large black bags forming under his eyes, "how did you sleep sir?" Meredy broke the silence that had filled the room.

"Fine I suppose." His voice sounded sleepy like he had just woken up.

_Fine? The man looks completely exhausted!_ Erza's thought was screaming in her head, pounding on her brain, giving her a minor headache.

"Sir," Meredy whispered as she placed his silverware down for him. He looked up at her with his tired and glossy green eyes, "be polite. Say hello to our guest."

Jellal looked over at the redhead with his sleepy eyes, "I hope the room you had was to your liking."

Meredy groaned. That wasn't exactly the type of greeting she was expecting him to give, but she didn't say a word.

"Oh, yes." Erza smiled at him as she took a sip from her mug, "I do appreciate it that you allowed me to stay last night."

He gave a small nod, "how long exactly do you plan on staying here?" She could hear the coldness of his voice, the tone of him being annoyed by her presence in his home, the tone of him wanting her to be gone as soon as possible.

"Well…" She hesitated at first to answer him, not wanting to make him grow annoyed with her for being around him, "Meredy had just informed me that she called a local mechanic this morning and that they were coming to get my car sometime later today. I'm not entirely sure how long it'll take though…"

He scowled, "so you'll most likely be here another night then." His voice was harsh.

"Sir," Meredy nudged him as she handed him a flute of wine, "be nice."

Jellal sighed as he took his drink, "so I'm guessing that you aren't from around here are you?"

Erza's eyes followed Meredy as the girl made her way back towards the kitchen, "no, I'm from Magnol-"

"Then why're you here?"

"Last night was Halloween and I was at a party that was hosted by my one friend's older brother. He lives right here in town."

"Who?"

"Lyon Bastia."

"Ul Milkovich."

Erza raised a brow, "I beg your pardon?"

"Lyon Bastia was adopted by a woman named Ul Milkovich, she was my family's old housekeeper before she passes on years ago."

"Oh, I see."

Jellal took a drink from his wine, a sinister smile formed on his lips in delight, "Ul's daughter Ultear worked for me after her mother passed on and now that Ultear is gone, Meredy has replaced her mother."

Erza nodded. Meredy had informed her about how Jellal took her in after her mother passed on but she didn't really know that much of it. It shocked her though really. This was the longest conversation the two of them had had with one another, but it was clear to her that Jellal just was uninterested in everything that she had to say to him but he was only trying to be polite.

"Breakfast is served!" Meredy's optimistic voice rang all throughout the dining hall. The pinkette walked towards Jellal first and placed his platter of food down before him. The man then instantly grabbed his meal and stood.

"I'll be eating in my study today Meredy for I have several things that I need to complete before the day is done."

"Yes sir," Meredy bowed as Jellal walked past her with his plate in one hand and his flute of wine in the other.

"I suppose I'll be seeing you around then Ms. Scarlet." At least he somewhat said a goodbye to her.

Erza looked at Meredy as the girl made her with her plate of food in her hands. "Meredy."

The girl looked at her as she placed the plate down in front of her, "does he do that sort of thing often?"

"Sometimes. Only if he really has important things that he needs to complete." Meredy smiled and bowed, "enjoy your breakfast Ms. Erza."

"Thank you… oh wait! Meredy!" But Erza had spoken too late, the girl was already gone. It was odd really, Erza had never even heard her leave the room. Now she was alone in the silence to eat her breakfast and she hated it. She never liked eating alone and the silence of the room as driving her crazy. "What's with this place?" She mumbled softly to herself, "and what's with that Jellal guy anyway? It's like… I don't even know."

Erza ate her food as she carried on idle chitchat with herself in order to keep herself from going absolutely mad from the quietness that surrounded her. She pushed her eggs around on her plate and let out a sigh.

"All done Ms. Erza?"

She jumped and glanced over her shoulder only to see Meredy standing behind her with a large smile on her face.

_When did Meredy get here?_ "Oh yes, thank you Meredy." Erza smiled, only to hide the confusion that she was feeling.

Erza watched as the pinkette grabbed her plate and began to walk off.

"Oh, Ms. Erza, the mechanic just recently called letting me know that they have just gotten your car in their shop and with everything that is wrong with your car, it'll take a few days to get everything repaired correctly. I've already spoken to Master Jellal about this situation and he said that you may stay for as long as you need to until everything is repaired."

"Well that's very nice of him. If you speak to him before I get that chance to then can you tell him that I said thank you for allowing me to stay again?"

"Of course Ms. Erza."

"Thank y- where did she go?" Erza was watching her the whole time. It was strange. The girl was there and then she was gone. Erza never saw her leave, nor did she even hear her leave… the only thing that Erza could think of was that Meredy had stepped out while Erza had blinked her eyes for a brief second, "how strange." Erza shrugged it off as nothing and she stood. She stretched her arms and exited the dining hall.

* * *

Erza had made her way out to the garden. Everything was so lush and filled with so many different kinds of flowers that the aroma coming from the air surrounding her simply brought a smile to her face. She had seated herself on a bench that was placed underneath a large Sakura tree, surrounded by lilies, roses, lilacs. The wind blew her scarlet hair to the left and she smiled more brightly than before. Sakura petals fell down towards her feet and danced around in a small circle. Suddenly, she shivered and grabbed her arms with the opposite hands. It was strange but the sun had vanished behind clouds. The wind picked up speed and grew colder and harder, making her teeth chatter. "It's so… cold." She closed her eyes, keeping the cold breeze out of them so they wouldn't water. But it was strange really. Just as quick as it got cold, it had stopped and the sun began to shine through the clouds. Slowly, she opened to eye to make sure that what she was feeling was real. Her amber eyes scanned the area, everything had returned to normal… well almost. She caught a glimpse of ghostly figure of a woman floating but a mere five feet her and she jumped.

"Who're you?" She questioned as she slowly stood from the bench she was seated on and began slowly walking towards the spectral woman.

The figure said nothing to her. But instead, she began moving further into the garden.

"Hey wait a second!" Erza called out after the figure as she ran to keep up and not lose the woman from her sight.

But still, the woman said nothing. She continued to lead Erza deeper into the garden. The redhead remained quiet as she followed closely behind her. It was strange, but as the two went deeper into the garden, the less full of life everything got. It was almost as if the back part of the garden had been long forgotten. When the spirit finally stopped, Erza found herself standing in a small area that appeared to be some sort of graveyard that only had four gravemarkers. As she looked around, the woman who had led her there looked down at the one grave that had living flowers placed by it.

"Ultear Milkovich?" Erza questioned the ghostly woman as she looked down at the name that was on the small cross. "You're Ultear Milkovich?"

The ghost simply nodded.

"Why did you bring me-"

"Hey!" Erza was cut off by the sound of a masculine voice. It came ringing out from behind her and in all honesty it startled her. Ultear quickly vanished from Erza's sight at the sound of the familiar voice and the redhead let out the breath that she was holding in and turned around to face him, "you shouldn't be in there."

"I'm sorry but I didn't know." She spoke honestly. "I was just exploring."

Jellal scoffed, "you aren't allowed in any area in the garden that is fenced off."

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry."

"Yeah well now you _DO_ know that so I advise that you get out of there."

She could only nod to him as she walked towards him. Without saying another word to her, he turned on his heels and began walking back towards the house. Erza glanced over her shoulder only to see that Ultear had returned to her gravemarker. What exactly is Jellal hiding in there? That question raced around in her head as she turned her view back to face the tall blue haired man's backside. She sighed.

"Are you staying another night?" He asked her.

She nodded even though he wasn't looking at her, "I was planning on it if it was okay with you."

"You can stay until your car is fixed but after that I want you out. Do you understand what I'm saying to you?"

She nodded again, "ye- yes sir."

There was silence now. All Erza could hear was the wind blowing, and the clunking of their boots on the stone path beneath their feet. She was slowly going crazy from the silence that plagued her but she held back the urge to speak to Jellal, not only because she was in no mood to listen to him be snippy with her, but because she had no idea what she could possibly even say to him. She simply looked down at her feet and let out a small sigh.

"So Jellal I-" She looked back up, having thought of something to say to him but he wasn't there. In fact, he was no where to be seen at all, "well this is just great, where exactly did he go?" She raised a brow as she looked to either side of her, behind her, and back in front of her before she simply shrugged, "how odd." Not wanting to let the thought fester in her mind anymore, she brushed it off and made her way back inside the manor and out of the garden.

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**So many things are happening right now. So let me ask you guys something, why exactly do you think Ultear led Erza out to her gravemarker in the garden? Why isn't Erza allowed in there? Where did Jellal disappear to? And what about Meredy, where did she disappear to? Let me just say that a lot of these things will be answered at some point but for now I want to keep you all guessing. Make sure you guys review, favorite and follow, it means so much to me when you do. Love you all and until next week.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there everyone! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. So it's Monday and you all know what that means don't you? It's time for another chapter update :D I always smile every time I get a new review for this story so thank you all so much!**

**imahappyperson : I really like that you guessed what's going on in this story thus far but I don't want to ruin it for everyone else who's reading but I'm not going to say you're right or wrong. Never think any of your assumptions are weird, it's always good to guess and try to figure out what's happening in the story thus far.**

**RubyDemonXoXo : To answer one of your guesses, yes. Jellal and Ultear have a past to them that's going to be answered at some point but I'm not entirely sure when it'll be but it'll be answered. And as for Jellal and Erza getting together, it'll happen at some point so be patient :D**

**HuggableMonsters : Ta-da! It's the newest chapter update :D**

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Jellal stood in his office simply staring at the oil painting behind him. The expression that was plastered on his face was grim. "I hope you're happy with yourself father." Jellal spat maliciously, "thanks you you I-"

"Master Jellal?" Meredy's voice came from outside of his office.

The man growled, "what?"

The pinkette slowly opened the door and poked her head in the office, "you've received a letter in the mail."

He looked over his shoulder at the girl and raised a blue brow, "from whom?"

"I'm not exactly sure sir. There's no return address written on it."

He turned around completely on his heels and made his way over to his housekeeper. She held out the envelope to him. "Leave now." He spoke as he snatched the letter out of her hands. The girl nodded, gave a small bow and quickly left the room.

Jellal opened the letter with one swift movement and scanned over it. "Just fantastic." He groaned out in displeasure. The cobalt haired man threw the letter down on the small table that was next to him and exited his office in a hurry.

* * *

Erza stood out on her balcony overlooking the garden down below her. A smile was glued to her face as the cold November air made her hair dance all around her.

"Ms. Erza," Meredy's voice called out behind her. The scarlet haired woman turned around on her heels to face the pink haired girl.

"Yes Meredy?"

"Dinner's almost ready."

"Oh, thank you for informing me."

"It's no trouble at all Ms. Erza. If you could please follow me down to the dining hall."

Erza nodded and followed after the young maid.

"So Ms. Erza, what do you think of the manor?"

"It's lovely," Erza smiled down at her, "but can I ask you something Meredy?"

"Of course Ms. Erza, anything."

"Why doesn't Jellal allow people to enter the East Wing?"

Meredy only shrugged, "I'm honestly not too sure. I suppose it's because he really enjoys his privacy."

"But surely he doesn't need the whole East Wing to himself, does he?"

"The East Wing contains Master Jellal's chambers: his bedroom, his study, his personal library, his bathroom. It's not nearly as large as the West Wing is though."

"I see."

Without another word, the two made their way into the dining area to only be greeted by, sort of, Jellal. He stared at the two ladies with his dark green eyes, not saying a single word to either of them.

"I'll be right back with dinner. If you would please excuse me." Meredy spoke as she walked past Erza and right towards the kitchen. Erza took her seat, three away from the ultramarine. He simply glanced at her for a moment.

"Erza," he breathed out.

"Jellal," she responded.

The air between the two was growing stiff and uncomfortable.

"Here we are." Meredy's sweet voice broke the tension that was growing in the room. She placed a large plate filled with chicken, scalloped potatoes, and a small ear of corn in front of Jellal and then Erza, "enjoy you two."

Jellal didn't begin eating right away. All he did was stare at the redhead while she ate, her eyes were glancing over at him.

"So Erza," Jellal finally spoke out, "I remember you saying that you weren't from around here and I can't seem to recall where it is you come from."

"Magnolia."

"That's quite the drive to get here."

"Yes, I know. As I mentioned to you before I was here for a Halloween party."

"Yes yes I remember. I just was curious as to why you wanted to leave the party at the time of night that you did, especially on Halloween. It's not exactly safe you know, there are a lot of sick, twisted people out there."

She shrugged, "I just wanted to get home I suppose."

"Master Jellal!" Meredy's voice filled the hall once again. Both Jellal and Erza turned to face her.

"What is it Meredy?" He asked as he finally took a bite from his chicken.

"What did that letter say that you received earlier?"

"Really Meredy? Now is _NOT_ the time nor the place to discuss that." He hissed at the girl. Her head sunk slightly down into her top of her dress like how a turtle hides its head in its shell.

"Why not?"

"It just isn't Meredy, okay?" Jellal stood up and grabbed his plate, "I'll eat this in my study." His boots were heavy against the ground as he left the room.

"Well that was rude." Erza crossed her arms angrily.

"No, no. I should have known better than to be persistent about it after he said something to me in the first place."

"It isn't your fault for being curious though, you know?"

"I suppose you're right Ms. Erza."

Meredy simply stared at Erza for a moment with her large green eyes before she spoke again, "I'll leave you be now Ms. Erza."

"You don't have to leave Meredy. Sit down, eat with me."

"You mean that?" The girl's face lit up with the brightest smile that Erza had ever seen.

"Of course I do."

"Oh thank you Ms. Erza!" Meredy wrapped her arms abound Erza's shoulders and hugged her tightly.

"Don't mention it Meredy."

Instantly the girl sat in chair to Erza's right, her large eyes focused on the redhead.

"Are you usually not allowed to eat out here Meredy?"

"Usually I'm not allowed to eat until I wash the dinner dishes and put everything away in the kitchen."

"Oh."

"It's not very often I just get the sit anymore though. After my mother passed on I took over her role around the manor. It's tiring but it keeps me busy I guess."

Erza could only smile at the girl for all the enthusiasm she had in her voice despite the fact that it was simply eating Erza apart inside knowing that the pinkette did all the work around the manor on her own with no help from anyone else… at least not that Erza's seen.

"Ms. Erza," Meredy spoke in a whisper. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course, but why exactly are you whispering?"

"I don't want Master Jellal to hear me. My voice tends to travel throughout the manor." She answered honestly.

"Oh, I see. So what did you want to ask me?"

"Have you met my mother?"

"What?"

"My mother Ultear. Have you ever met her? She visits me sometimes. When you first arrived here at the manor I spoke of you to her. Have you gotten the chance to meet her?"

Erza, in fact, had met Ultear. She was the one that led her out into the garden cemetery plot just earlier in the day. "I have, yes."

Meredy's eyes lit up with a certain happiness but then they faded back to a somber tone, "Ms. Erza, my mother died knowing a very deep and personal secret about the Master but every time I ask her what it is she doesn't tell me."

"I don't-"

"Promise me that no matter what happens you won't follow my mother, no matter where she leads you. This place is dangerous and I don't want Master Jellal to harm you in any way. Promise me that you'll never speak a word of the Master, or the manor to anyone when you get to leave, okay?"

"Wh-"

"Promise me. Please."

Erza wasn't exactly sure what Meredy had meant by what she wanted her to promise, but she was done asking questions, "okay. I promise." Erza knew that something was being hidden from everyone in the manor. She knew that something was going on and she wasn't a fan of it. She wanted to find out everything there was to know about this place. She wasn't exactly sure as to how she was going to do it, but she was going to do it, even if it meant going into the East Wing.

* * *

**Well let me ask you guys something. What exactly do you think Meredy meant by telling Erza not to follow Ultear and the whole thing with Jellal harming her? Why isn't Erza allowed to speak a word of the manor or Jellal to anyone? Also, what do you guys think the letter that Jellal received said? And who was it from? WHAT DID ULTEAR DIE KNOWING?! I want to hear all of your thoughts and anything else that you may have. Alright you guys, I'll leave you with this until next week. Review, favorite, and follow :D Love you all.**


	5. Chapter 5

**annoyed by you : I'm glad you really like the story so far. As for everything else that you mentioned in your review, they'll be answered in time with upcoming chapters so I'm not really going to say anything about it thus far. Yes, Meredy is just a kid; she's modeled after how she looked before the timeskip whereas everyone else is after the timeskip. Chapter updates happen every Monday when I find the time but here you go, a new chapter :D**

* * *

Night was upon them. Erza sat at the side of her bed with her head in her hands, her fingers intertwined in her long scarlet hair. There was obviously something that Jellal was hiding, and that something just had to be over in the East Wing.

"That's probably why I'm not allowed over there." It was all making sense to her now. "So now I need to figure out what it is that he's hiding."

The light next to Erza's bed began to flicker on and off frantically. Her head show up out of her hands and she looked around the room, "hello?" Her voice was shaky as she called out.

A figure appeared by her doorway.

"Ultear?"

The ghost woman nodded and motioned for Erza to follow her with her finger.

"Hey wait a second," Erza had no choice but to follow now, Ultear was already on the other side of the doorway. Erza sighed and quickly followed after. As she left her room, she saw Ultear waiting for her over by the stairs that led down towards the dining hall.

"Where are we going?" She asked when she finally caught up to the ghostly woman.

Ultear looked over her shoulder and pointed towards the East Wing of the manor. Erza knew that the answers to what she was looking for were probably in there but Erza feared of getting caught; she couldn't even begin to imagine what might happen to her if Jellal found her snooping around.

"I'm not suppose to go in there," Erza spoke quietly as she looked at the ghost.

Again, Ultear pointed towards the East Wing as she made her way over there. Erza gave up. Ultear had defeated her. She knew that she had promised Meredy that she wouldn't follow her mother no matter what, but Erza couldn't help herself. She was curious, but the thought of fear kept radiating in her mind.

* * *

The East Wing was so dark. With every step Erza felt as if she was being watched or worse, being followed. The redhead made sure that she was quiet, the fear of Jellal catching her continued to play over and over again in her mind. She had stopped in front of a door, seeing as Ultear had done the same. The woman looked at the spectre that she was following and she looked back at the redhead before she phased herself through the door. With shaky hands, Erza turned the knob as she bit her bottom lip. the door opened with a loud creaking noise.

"Oh no oh no oh… no no no!" Erza began to panic. If Jellal had heard that then she knew that she was done for. She froze in her tracks and waited, listening for the man's footsteps but instead she heard nothing. Erza let out of nervous sigh and then started to make her way into the large room which appeared to be some sort of office or library, she couldn't exactly tell which. Erza shivered as she entered the room. The atmosphere that surrounded her was much colder than anywhere else in the whole manor. She hugged herself with her hands to try and stay warm as she followed the ghostly woman. She was unsure as to where Ultear was leading her, but she followed without asking any questions.

When Ultear finally stopped moving, Erza found herself standing before a large bookcase. She looked over at the woman to her right, "what's here?" When Ultear didn't say anything to her, she simply sighed and began looking around. There were thousands of books surrounding her and she didn't dare touch a single thing.

"All of these books are in latin," she observed as her eyes scanned over all the titles, "I can't re-"

"He's coming." Ultear finally spoke, "he's coming."

"Who is?" Erza asked.

"_Him_."

Erza's chocolate eyes grew wide with panic and fear. She instantly began searching the room for a place to hide when she heard footsteps approaching from outside the door. She watched as Ultear vanished into thin air and she began to panic even more. The footsteps grew louder as the man drew closer. In a panic, she ran behind a bookcase and inhaled a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly, praying and hoping that he wouldn't find her. The door opened and Erza heard him walk in the room. The door creaked as it shut. Jellal was not in the same room as her and just thinking about that terrified her. What if she was caught? What would he do to her? Slowly, Erza opened her eyes and glanced at the man from the left side of the bookcase. All he was doing was standing before a rather large bookcase. The woman raised a brow in confusion but she studied him, watching all of his movements carefully. He ran his fingers over all the books that were eye level to him before stopping at one and she couldn't tell which one it was but it seemed to be tall and wide. She observed as he ran his fingers up the book's spine and stopped at the top of it before pulling it down. It stayed in place, tilted downwards. Whatever book Jellal had touched was opening something hidden deep under the manor. Erza heard the movement and the ground shaking beneath her feet. She inhaled a deep breath and observed as Jellal took a step back as the bookcase before him moved backwards and then to the side. The redhead's eyes grew wide from what she was seeing, it was just like something straight out of horror movie where the killer would hide a dead body or something… _no no no Erza, that doesn't seem like something Jellal would do_. She brushed that thought out of her mind. Her curiosity was getting the best of her though and she wanted to get closer to observe but she knew she couldn't do that in fear of Jellal still standing there, so she instead decided to observe from afar. Erza watched as the ultramarine disappeared behind the bookcase. It was shortly after he vanished into the shadows that the ground began to shake again and the bookcase slowly moved back into place with several squeaks that made Erza's teeth clench tightly together. She was suddenly filled with fear; she was too scared to move at that moment so she simply stood there for a few seconds and waited. She wanted to make sure that the scene around her was completely safe before she made her escape out of the East Wing without getting caught by anyone in the house. All she wanted to do at that very moment was to get safely back to her room and sleep for the remainder of the night.

* * *

**Here's the question that I'm going to ask for this chapter : what's behind the bookcase in the East Wing that Jellal went behind? Sure it'll be answered in a chapter in the near future but I want to hear what everyone thinks because I like getting you all involved in the chapters. Anyway, thank you to everyone who had reviewed the story thus far and thanks to those who favorite and follow; it means so much to me. Keep it up! Also, I'm going to point this out now but after the next update I'm going to take a break until after the first of the year because of the holiday season since I'll be busy. I really hope that everyone understands but I'll most likely update a Christmas story or something (one-shots most likely.) See you all next week with the next chapter.**


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